Jesus Guides His Church into True Repentance (Matthew 21:28-32)

Jesus Guides His Church, Week Six, October 11, 2020

Readings for this week:

First Lesson, Ezekiel 18:1-4, 25-32:  Ezekiel brings a strong warning for Christians who grow lax in their faith or dismissive of their sins. Repent, God says, turn from your wickedness and live. God promises not to judge us by our past, but by our present, and so he calls us to live anew.

Psalm 25: A Psalm of prayer: a prayer for protection, for forgiveness, for mercy, and for rescue.

Second Lesson:  2 Corinthians 13:5-8: The Corinthian congregation had heard from the Apostle Paul about repentance and obedience; he encouraged them to test themselves.

Gospel and Sermon Text:  Matthew 21:28-32:  The great men of Israel had gathered against Jesus in the temple courts. They claimed to be doing God’s work and fulfilling his will, but there was no repentance and no true obedience.

Sermon:  Matthew 21:28-32:  Doo Your Father’s Will.

To do the Father’s will begins with true repentance, but repentance consists of more than the words we say. It continues with heart-driven actions that also encourage us to do our Father’s will.

Repentance can be understood as a U-turn arrow. You start off in one direction leading towards sin and then you do a complete 180 away from sin.

There are three steps to do this: first you genuinely confess your sins, second you trust in God’s promise of forgiveness, and third you live a life free from those same sins: a turn away from sin and a turn towards God.

True repentance is not easy nor is it fun. It requires us to take an honest look at ourselves and come to the sobering conclusion that what we have been doing isn’t right and we shouldn’t continue on with it.

Pastor Tim Patoka